Broadband vibration energy harvest of an elastic beam by employing a type of intelligent elastic device

In engineering, one of the effective methods to utilize the vibration of beams is to harvest their vibration energy. The existing research mainly employed piezoelectric elements to harvest the vibration energy of beams, which is designed for the determined working condition. The effect of vibration energy harvesting may be worse when their working state changes. Against this background, the paper discusses the importance of the design and manufacturing of an intelligent elastic device for broadband harvesting the vibration energy of the elastic beam and studies its potential application. Firstly, study the working principle of the intelligent elastic device theoretically. Then, the influence of the intelligent elastic device on the broadband vibration energy harvest of the elastic beam is investigated through experiments. The intelligent elastic device can broadband harvest the vibration energy of the elastic beam effectively by changing its vibration characteristics. In the effective working region, the change to the working states of the intelligent elastic device significantly influences the output voltage responses of the beam subjected to single-frequency excitation. It can effectively harvest the vibration energy of the elastic beam under different excitation frequencies. The control flow of the intelligent elastic device is proposed to promote its engineering application.